How would you like it?

30042012

I have previously spoken about citizen journalism, but that was in the context of disasters such as the Asian tsunami (2004) and the Chinese SARS epidemic of 2003, but this week’s reading* was about citizen journalism is general use. Once again though, I don’t entirely agree with it.

One of the reasons that I don’t agree with it in general use is that it takes away from the actual journalist. Yes, ok, it is good it get a different perspective on events from new writers, but how would you like it if I came to your house and tried to fix your plumbing without any experience or knowledge? I’d imagine the answer is not very. And this is fair enough, because I’d be taking away from those who had done all the formal educational requirements.

I know that it appears easier to write an article for a newspaper than change pipes, but if anyone could do it, why are there university and tafe courses available to study?

Another reason that I don’t really see the point of citizen journalism is because of all the personal prejudices that will come through. I know that newspapers and television stations have their own agendas, but having a certain view point on things in terms of a company is much different to have personal bias.

Also, if citizen journalism is a good thing, who are all the journalists going to interview when they need to write their stories? The best voice that people can have is through an interview. This is because no one is taking away from the people who have put in years of effort and study to do what they’re doing, and they also get their opinions out there.

If this still doesn’t keep people happy, simple, do what I’m doing, create and write in a blog. As long as you keep the language clean, you can write about what you like, and you just never know who might be reading it…….